News:

"There is a terrible desperation to the increasingly pathetic rationalizations from the climate denial camp. This comes as no surprise if you take the long view; every single undone paradigm in history has died kicking and screaming, and our current petroleum paradigm 🐉🦕🦖 is no different. The trick here is trying to figure out how we all make it to the new ⚡ paradigm without dying ☠️ right along with the old one, kicking, screaming or otherwise." - William Rivers Pitt

for the moment that is what we recommend as well. Its still in the early adopter stage. They do have advantages due to lithiums acceptance of higher current for charging and discharging. So for an off grid scenario you can massively oversize the solar array due to cheap solar panels and get it all in with a relatively small battery bank. Lead's rate of charge/discharge is more fixed so you would have to double the bank size to equal the charge rate which lowers the cost difference. There are also some problems in our area due to Lithium's poor cold charging characteristics. I like them. I will like them more in 5 years...

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Leges Sine Moribus VanaeFaith, if it has not works, is dead, being alone.

for the moment that is what we recommend as well. Its still in the early adopter stage. They do have advantages due to lithiums acceptance of higher current for charging and discharging. So for an off grid scenario you can massively oversize the solar array due to cheap solar panels and get it all in with a relatively small battery bank. Lead's rate of charge/discharge is more fixed so you would have to double the bank size to equal the charge rate which lowers the cost difference. There are also some problems in our area due to Lithium's poor cold charging characteristics. I like them. I will like them more in 5 years...

Bottom line here is I just don't see the need for so much storage or power generation. You just need to keep a few diode lights on and keep your laptop charged up and a fridge running. How much power does that really take?

RE

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Leges Sine Moribus VanaeFaith, if it has not works, is dead, being alone.

for the moment that is what we recommend as well. Its still in the early adopter stage. They do have advantages due to lithiums acceptance of higher current for charging and discharging. So for an off grid scenario you can massively oversize the solar array due to cheap solar panels and get it all in with a relatively small battery bank. Lead's rate of charge/discharge is more fixed so you would have to double the bank size to equal the charge rate which lowers the cost difference. There are also some problems in our area due to Lithium's poor cold charging characteristics. I like them. I will like them more in 5 years...

Bottom line here is I just don't see the need for so much storage or power generation. You just need to keep a few diode lights on and keep your laptop charged up and a fridge running. How much power does that really take?

RE

Individually you are right but you rely on portions of the public grid you are not factoring in. For now most people in western world off grid homes or using between 2 and 30 kW Hrs of power per day. Both of those are outliers average probably 6-12 kW HrAll my own observations of course.

I average 140 kwh/month, for about 5/day. However, this is far more than I really need, I could quite easily get by on half that with no change in lifestyle at all. I could get under 1 if I made a few small changes like doing outdoor refrigeration through the winter, etc. WTF do I need 8kwh of storage for?

RE

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Leges Sine Moribus VanaeFaith, if it has not works, is dead, being alone.

Well, Anchorage averages 1.5 hours of usable sun in the winter. Our problem is you get 2, 3, 4, 10 days of very little sun then 5 hours on one day. You try to size battery banks to store 2 days of usage while not destroying them. You can add extra generator time or oversizing arrays but that is the general rule. So for you: say you could make that 3kW per day we would want to store 6kW Hr while not discharging a lead acid bank more then 60-70 percent at most. For you 4 L16 6 volt 400 amp hour batteries with a 2.4 kW array. About $1600 for the battery bank good for 5-10 years depending on how you abuse it.

$1600 is more in budget, but really I don't need that much. Beside SUN(or lack therof) we get a lot of WIND here in the valley, it comes whistling down off the mountains at least 1/2 the days where I live in the Winter. Then in summer of course you get much more sun for much longer periods of time. If I was really trying to go off grid and not just stay prepped for temporary outages, I think I could get away with 2kwh of storage. I would trim my usage considerably also on days my system wasn't generating power as well.

RE

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Leges Sine Moribus VanaeFaith, if it has not works, is dead, being alone.

Well, Anchorage averages 1.5 hours of usable sun in the winter. Our problem is you get 2, 3, 4, 10 days of very little sun then 5 hours on one day. You try to size battery banks to store 2 days of usage while not destroying them. You can add extra generator time or oversizing arrays but that is the general rule. So for you: say you could make that 3kW per day we would want to store 6kW Hr while not discharging a lead acid bank more then 60-70 percent at most. For you 4 L16 6 volt 400 amp hour batteries with a 2.4 kW array. About $1600 for the battery bank good for 5-10 years depending on how you abuse it.

$1600 is more in budget, but really I don't need that much. Beside SUN(or lack therof) we get a lot of WIND here in the valley, it comes whistling down off the mountains at least 1/2 the days where I live in the Winter. Then in summer of course you get much more sun for much longer periods of time. If I was really trying to go off grid and not just stay prepped for temporary outages, I think I could get away with 2kwh of storage. I would trim my usage considerably also on days my system wasn't generating power as well.

RE

The smart human is always best for these things. Its a non linear relationship between depth of discharge and life cycle for batteries which is why we do larger banks. Sleep time...

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Leges Sine Moribus VanaeFaith, if it has not works, is dead, being alone.

Some deliberately erroneous info on the Musk Australian battery bank, that he SOLD them (he did NOT "give" them) has been posted by (not so) closet fossil fueler Palloy. The 109 MW.h figure for the battery bank quoted by Palloy is also erroneous.

Quote

At roughly five PowerPacks per MWh of energy generation, South Australia's Tesla battery setup will comprise several hundred PowerPack towers -- each containing 16 individual battery pods that balance charge. The 129MWh of batteries to be installed at Hornsdale is roughly equivalent to the capacity installed into Tesla's new electric cars during five days of Model S and Model X production at its plant in Fremont, California.

December 28, 2017 Less than a month after Tesla unveiled a new backup power system in South Australia, the world’s largest lithium-ion battery is already being put to the test. And it appears to be far exceeding expectations: In the past three weeks alone, the Hornsdale Power Reserve has smoothed out at least two major energy outages, responding even more quickly than the coal-fired backups that were supposed to provide emergency power.

Tesla’s battery last week kicked in just 0.14 seconds after one of Australia’s biggest plants, the Loy Yang facility in the neighbouring state of Victoria, suffered a sudden, unexplained drop in output, according to the International Business Times. And the week before that, another failure at Loy Yang prompted the Hornsdale battery to respond in as little as four seconds— or less, according to some estimates — beating other plants to the punch. State officials have called the response time “a record,” according to local media.

I have warned Palloy several times about his penchant for taking every opportunity to attack anything that endangers the use of fossil fuels for energy.

He ignores all my warnings. I will not allow false information to be disseminated here. Consequently, I have deleted it and reposted it below with the portions of the Palloy post that are false eliminated.

Don't quote me but the 8kW version retail 14000 canadian. That is the most expensive format though the 16 kw version close to 20000 canadian.

At those prices, I'll stick to a couple of Lead-Acid Deep Cycle Marine Batts.

RE

"each have strengths and weaknesses", indeed.

It makes me wonder how a battery developed for EV car use can also be used for grid back-up, which is the opposite of a mobile situation, where Lead Iron Phosphate excels. Elon Musk gave South Australia 109 MW.h of his batteries, as a loss-leader, knowing they would have to come back in 8,000 cycles time and buy some more unsuitable batteries.

We spitball this issue at work a lot. Lithium is great for fast instantaneous storage the kind they installed in Australia. Its also really good for peak shaving like they use it for in California. I won't claim insight into Musk's motives but building volume at a loss and keeping his companies in the news cycle to maintain share price are certainly part of it. I like lead carbon, flow batteries and even Aquion if they ever get their power density up. Lithium for mobile applications is hard to beat right now. Then you have to consider that when the cars are done with the batteries the batteries are still good for several thousand cycles at a lesser charge/discharge rate. Lots of startups in that area.

« Last Edit: March 15, 2018, 02:49:48 pm by AGelbert »

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Leges Sine Moribus VanaeFaith, if it has not works, is dead, being alone.

I've been following this discussion. I appreciate the input from a pro. David, please comment on Nickle-Iron as a PV storage choice.

And how big a bank do I need for my 4.8kW array with 5 hr sun? I was thinking two strings might be better than one. 48V.

I am probably going to do a grid-tie for our house in the canyon. I recently got a new roof (composition shingles). Any advice on the best racking attachment choices to avoid leaks?

The nickel Iron is a great chemistry but it shines best in charge discharge settings. For a grid connected system with battery backup its overkill. With an eye on doom it is worth considering though. at least twice the price of lead calcium which is the most common for data centres, elevators, hospitals etc all long life low usage batteries. Call me old fashion but I would probably suggest two strings of the less costly chemistry for redundancy. How much you store is always tricky. when we do net metered with battery backup we size the bank smaller say one day due to the fact the solar arrays for net metered systems are so large. In your case the scenario would be a grid connected inverter with the ability to sell back to the grid like the Radian: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LeS-wGtlpLc from outback. Schneider and sunny boy have their versions. It charges up your battery first then feeds surplus to the grid. You then install a critical loads panel for what matters in your house just like for a backup generator. if power goes out you use the daytime hours to supplement you battery capacity by running everything that uses a lot of power during the day since the battery bank will be topped up within hours and the rest wasted. In your climate you might need to have smaller split air conditioners that can be run on solar you would run them full out while the sun is up and coast at night. Whole house units are real hogs on start up. The nice thing is even if you can't do grid tie you can grid zero with the same setup which uses the grid to back up but feeds nothing back to it. That scenario is for when your utility is being difficult; utility push back to solar is real and growing. For mounts I like the flat plates with mastic and a drip cover. Usually you screw into a rafter and seal which can get messy if you miss but the flat plates allow you to go on the sheathing directly. We use this one here: http://hespv.ca/fr-talon but most suppliers have something similar.

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Leges Sine Moribus VanaeFaith, if it has not works, is dead, being alone.

Oops, dumb question. I didn't get it the way I wanted. The battery question on strings was for my off-grid set-up at the farm. I know you need to know the power usage to figure out how big a bank, but I was just hoping for an off-the-cuff idea about what would be typical for my 4800 watts of panel I have waiting to be installed. Just a ballpark.

I probably won't battery back up the house.

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Leges Sine Moribus VanaeFaith, if it has not works, is dead, being alone.

8 Reasons Lithium is Better for Solar Energy StorageSometimes newer isn’t better. But in the case of solar battery technology, the newer lithium iron phosphate batteries (LiFePO4, or LFP) defeat the older lead acid varieties in almost every way.

Without getting too technical, here are 8 reasons lithium squashes lead if you’re looking to buy and install a solar energy system in your home or business:

1. Safe enough for Grandma to use

LFP solar batteries will not explode or catch fire. They use very stable chemical compounds. They are stable even at high temperatures. And if you’re wondering about those exploding laptops and cell phones from a few years ago, those were lithium-cobalt batteries. Not the same thing.

In contrast, lead batteries have all sorts of stuff that can go wrong without proper maintenance, like spilled or leaking acid. Which leads to reason #2.

2. No need for a “solar-sitter” while you’re on vacation

Your dog might need help while you’re gone, but your lithium iron solar battery will be just fine on its own. It needs no ongoing maintenance like voltage monitoring or refills.

In contrast, lead acid requires a lot of monitoring and upkeep. Otherwise, lots of things can go wrong, including leakage, loss of power, and a big hole in your wallet. Some varieties need more work than others, like refilling the electrolyte solution with fresh water and checking specific gravity. But all of them require more technical skill and attention. See this article for all the specialized work you have to do with lead acid solar batteries.

If you have lithium iron batteries, you avoid all that maintenance and risk.

3. This is a marathon, not a sprint. LFP lasts way longer.

Again, specific data varies by brand and type. But a typical lithium iron phosphate battery will last for 8-10 years and for thousands of cycles. The sonnenbatterie, a lithium iron phosphate solar storage battery used by Coastal Solar uses, is guaranteed for a minimum of 10 years and 10,000 cycles.

How much worse are lead acid batteries? They usually last less than 3 years, and the best ones might make it to 1000 cycles. So while lead batteries cost less up front, they won’t last nearly as long, and you’ll pay for multiple replacements before the LFP would have run out.

What’s a cycle? Think of your phone. When the battery light flashes, that means you’ve ‘discharged’ the battery. Once you ‘recharge’ it back to full power, that’s one cycle. How long a cycle lasts depends on a lot of factors, such as how far down you discharge it each time and the local temperature.

4. Solar batteries care about their weight too.

Lithium batteries generally weigh less than half of what comparable lead acid batteries weigh. This means lower shipping costs, less stress during installation, and less strain on your walls, or wherever you end up installing it.

lithium iron phosphate solar batteries beat lead acid batteries

5. Lithium is “green,” even if you’re not.

You’ll have to discard your battery eventually. The chemicals in the LFP solar batteries are non-toxic and cause no harm to the environment. They contain no rare metals or what is commonly referred to as battery acid – which is very dangerous.

Lead batteries, on the other hand, use dangerous chemicals that are harmful – to you and to the fish. So even if you maintain it properly, disposing of a lead battery is environmentally problematic. Regardless of whether you consider yourself an ‘environmentalist,’ choosing lithium over lead is an easy way to help the planet and impress your friends.

6. Versatility, thy name is lithium iron phosphate

A stable battery is a huge advantage. It means you can orient it however is most convenient, and put it wherever you want. Lithium solar batteries like the sonnenbatterie can be installed indoors or outdoors, in any room of your house, and on the walls or on the floor.

While some lead acid batteries also offer some flexibility as far as not requiring it to sit a certain way, they do not offer the range of installation options of the LFPs.

7. Holding nothing back – full discharge ⚡

Remember the cycles? Lithium batteries can be fully discharged without risk and without loss of future capacity. That means longer cycles, and fewer of them.

Lead batteries can only be about 80% discharged, or they risk being damaged – this is another thing you have to monitor.

8. Stable in the face of boredom

Do batteries get bored when they aren’t being used? With LFP solar batteries, it doesn’t matter. Their capacity barely budges even when not in use, and they have minimal self-discharge. This is a huge advantage, because if you’re gone for a while or don’t need the battery for certain times of day, it will be at full capacity when you return.

But lead batteries do self-discharge and lose a lot more capacity even when not in continuous use. So you get less out of it when you need it.

There’s another battery issue called the “memory effect.” This problem actually doesn’t occur with either lithium iron phosphate or lead acid batteries, so in our little contest, they tie on this point. But it’s still good to know that the LFP holds its own on this issue.

What’s the memory effect? It’s when your battery seems to lose capacity over time at a faster rate than it should. Over time, all batteries wear out and don’t recharge as much, but this should happen at a slow rate. But some batteries have a peculiar habit of resetting their maximum based on how much you discharge it.

For example, some phones have this problem. If you only use half the capacity and then recharge it, the battery “remembers” a lower maximum capacity as a result. Thus, it stays charged for much less time in the future.

All battery makers how shall we put it... talk up their qualities and remain quiet on their drawbacks. I won't get into a peeing match with you on this but lithium is not the end all beat all for stationary uses... At least not yet. Here are some challenges to consider and understand I'm a believer:

1) Lithium batteries are still too new and are not recycled to any great degree. That will change as volume increases.

2)they require a sophisticated battery management system without which they are a brick

3)you either get several thousand cycles or 80-90 percent discharge rates... not both

So partial truths from above:1)lead acid maintenance, I add water to mine twice a year, sealed versions are just that sealed and require nothing for their entire lifespan

2)recyclability: I cannot force people to recycle their batteries but in this part of the world every scrap yard will pay you money for them. Lead is recycled commercially and the cost is built into the cost of purchase. Sulphuric acid is also recycled and it is a fairly easy manufactured chemical we have been making since the industrial revolution.

3) the memory effect usually only applies to nickel chemistries. in lead acid maybe sulphating could be considered memory but that is bad charging and takes continued neglect to occur. Again, for discussion only not to pee in your sandbox.Cheers, David

Sure. I'm just saying that arbitrarily trashing Lithium, like Palloy wants to do, lacks objectivity. In welcome contrast, you weigh the pros and cons objectively. I respect you for that.

As an expert, could you inform me as to what the actual number of cycles the 129MWh set up in Australia is limited by? Do you agree with the "5,000" CORRECTION "8,000" cycle limitation Palloy claims they have?

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Leges Sine Moribus VanaeFaith, if it has not works, is dead, being alone.

Like almost everything in RE :" It depends"If they are cycling its bank say to a 10 percent depth and using it as some kind of peaker plant to replace building a NG facility or back up wind or account for brownout which is what the press releases say then they could easily see 10000 cycles or more. If the local grid is in more trouble and they regularly have to dip down to 70 percent or more then yes the 5000 cycles could happen. I'm no lithium expert and Tesla is extremely guarded about releasing real engineering data versus press releases. Also Lithium ages weirdly. Just because it does not meet its initial specs does not mean it's toast. You could reconfigure it for a less demanding application and/or cycle in new components. In that way its no different then rebuilding a generator in a multi generator grid. One of its challenges is you need to control its temperature, cell by cell voltage etc or else when it goes wrong it really really goes wrong. That adds a lot of complexity and fail points. All that is justified in cars, for stationary... We will see how it rolls out and ages.

Thank you for your well reasoned and informative answer. I will continue monitoring the situation in Australia. I believe the Australians made a sound decision in buying this massive battery system from Musk. Furthermore, I continue to believe the use of the adjective "unsuitable" by Palloy to describe the Australian battery bank sold to them by Musk is deliberately disingenuous disparaging of the value of a system that has already avoided brown-outs with its 4 second (or less) response time. Battery technology aside, the cost savings in electrical appliance repair and replacement due to the superior smoothing effect over fossil fuel peaker plants, that this battery bank has already demonstrated, constitutes a significant amount of money NOT spent. That is a plus for the Australian battery system that must be part of the cost/benefit analysis.

Thanks again for the information about that system I posted about in Puerto Rico. I'll pass that on to some people I know down there.

These deployments took place in areas where there has not been reliable electricity since September of 2017, when Hurricane Maria struck. One site is a volunteer housing facility in the Isabela municipality and the other is located in the Corozal municipality to provide electricity to a clean water pumping system. Blue Planet Energy is also providing support through training and education sessions.

Too many of Puerto Rico’s residents have not had a functioning electric grid since Hurricane Maria’s landfall in September. Our Blue Ion units will provide critical sites with reliable, safe and self-sustained power to ensure they can continue providing essential services to their communities. We’re proud to be able to lend our support to Puerto Rico and to contribute to its mission of rebuilding with stronger, cleaner and more reliable energy infrastructure,” said Henk Rogers, Blue Planet Energy CEO and founder.

A 16 kilowatt-hour (kWh) Blue Ion 2.0 battery unit was installed at the well pumping system in Corozal. The energy storage technology is working with a 7 kW solar power system in a remote neighborhood called Palos Blanco. This area was experiencing a lack of both clean water and reliable electricity, so the solar power and energy storage system is helping to produce both.

“Our mission on the ground in Puerto Rico is to coordinate with the EPA and FEMA to install safe drinking water stations and solar-powered pumping systems to service those that need it most, ” explained Mark Baker, Director of Disaster Response for Water Mission. This organization is working to address water safety in many rural communities in Puerto Rico.

Another 16 kWh Blue Ion system was deployed at the Las Dunas volunteer center. This facility supports aid workers who are installing solar power kits by providing them with housing and assistance. Up to 15 volunteers can be housed there, but the structure was without power until the new system was deployed.

In fact, CMRC has plans to add over 100 more solar power + energy storage systems in under-served areas of Puerto Rico.

Blue Planet Energy also sponsored the Puerto Rico Solar Energy Industries Association’s inaugural Clean Energy Summit in San Juan in February to address how energy storage could help in the island’s recovery.

“Being on the ground in Puerto Rico and speaking with people from communities impacted by Hurricane Maria, we’ve seen firsthand the risk that centralized power systems pose and the hardship they can leave in the wake of a devastating weather event. The Blue Planet Energy team is thrilled to pass on the knowledge and tools for reliable, well-designed off-grid power so that Puerto Ricans can rebuild their communities,” stated Blue Planet Energy’s Vice President of Engineering Kyle Bolger.

The Blue Ion off-grid ferrous phosphate battery system has products at 8 kWh, 16 kWh, and a much larger option that can be scaled up to 450 kWh.

Is Sion Power’s Licerion Lithium Battery What The Electric Aviation World Has Been Waiting For?

April 2nd, 2018 by Nicolas Zart

It sounds as if the electric aviation news industry has somewhat tapered down, giving a chance for other competing electric mobility industries to make it into the limelight. But that doesn’t mean that the electric aviation industry is sitting idly either. In fact, Sion Power just announced a “breakthrough” in its Licerion lithium battery chemistry.

Licerion Lithium Battery Takes A Shot At Electric Aviation

Sion Power Licerion rechargeable lithiumSion Power made quite a stir when it announced it was ready for the production of its patented Licerion rechargeable lithium metal battery by late 2018 in its Tucson, Arizona facility. As to what a Licerion rechargeable lithium battery is, that’s a good question. Sion Power claims that it is 60% lighter than conventional Li-ion batteries, which could seriously boost the potential of electric aviation and the company’s unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) products. It supposedly offers a mouthwatering 500 Wh/kg, 1,000 Wh/L, and 450 cycle battery. And the best part is that if these numbers are good enough for the electric aviation industry, they surely are even better for road-bound electric vehicle (EV) markets.

Still, we need more details. This isn’t an April 1 joke, but it’s also unclear how good the offer is and what might be missing. Individually, the Licerion cells measure 10 cm x 10 cm x 1 cm (roughly 4″ x 4″ by .3″) and offer 20 Ah for the highest energy density combination currently available. At the core, a metallic lithium thin-film anode was designed with a host of physical and chemical levels of protection to enhance the safety and the lifespan of its lithium batteries. By combining these anodes with traditional lithium-ion intercalation cathodes, the company hopes to not only reach these high-energy-density numbers but to have them manufactured by year-end.

Sion Power Licerion rechargeable lithium

Tracy Kelley, Chief Executive Officer of Sion Power, recently stated, “Over the last decade Sion Power, and our research partner BASF, have strategically focused on meticulous research and development of a next-generation lithium battery. … The result of our team’s efforts will be seen in a safe lithium metal battery that is in a class by itself. We are on track to deliver product to a select group of partners by the end of 2018.”

Over the past decade, we’ve seen a few prospective battery chemistries vie for the lucrative newly budding EV market — from lithium-air, to sulfur, to mysterious solid-state batteries. Although each has their pros and cons, the results have always been decidedly better than what the current generation of batteries could offer. Once ironing out the last technological hurdles, mass manufacturing needs to be solved and eventually begin. This is where the wheat is separated from the chaff.

With various new batteries demonstrating what seems to be excellent performance for EVs, once thing is becoming more and more clear — there isn’t a silver-bullet approach that is a perfect solution for EVs, not even a silver buckshot. On the contrary, there are and will continue to be many good approaches.

If it is to work out as dreamed and pitched, though, the Sion Power Licerion battery could be one of the first to bring commercial electric flight to the mass market. Maybe. Perhaps. We’ll see.

As we remind people frequently, Tesla is not a car company that also makes batteries, it is a battery company that also makes cars. (Note Google’s description in the screenshot below.) The cars get all the media attention, but the energy storage component may ultimately be more important to its stated mission of breaking the world of itsfossil fuel addiction.

Storage is rightfully one of the hottest topics in the energy industry right now. The potential benefits and profitability has prompted plenty of excitement — and questions — among industry leaders. And for good reason. Widespread deployment of energy storage, especially batteries, will increase substantially in the next few years. In fact, analysts project an annual market of 2,600 MW by 2022 — that’s nearly 12 times the size of the 2016 market.

Storage is in a league of its own despite being a core element of distributed energy resources (DER) increasingly connecting to traditional grids with new sources of energy. In practice, storage improves grid reliability and resiliency while potentially delivering environmental benefits that surpass that of traditional grids. It’s hybrid in the sense that energy storage shares some features in common with generating facilities and other features in common with transmission assets and load. Theoretically, this means it should be able to provide a broader range of services than other energy assets. However, as with any novel technology, the array of opportunities for storage brings new types of risks that project developers and investors need to understand so they can plan for contingencies and mitigation approaches.

Knowing Where to Start

According to energy sector analysis ICF conducted in partnership with law firm Norton Rose Fulbright, a key challenge storage faces in trying to participate in wholesale energy markets today is that the rules were developed for power plants and demand response companies — which may unnecessarily limit the scope (and therefore compensation) of storage services. However, the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) is currently working to clear a path to wholesale market participation for storage providers. In fact, the FERC has issued four orders in recent years that help energy storage. In November 2016, FERC issued a notice of proposed rulemaking (NOPR) introducing transparent market rules for energy storage facilities to participate in organized markets run by regional transmission organizations (RTO) and independent system operators (ISO). In February 2018, FERC issued its final rule (Order 841) requiring ISO and RTO markets to establish market rules that properly recognize the physical, operational and capacity characteristics of electric storage resources.

FERC’s recent moves aim squarely at removing market barriers to participation and laying the regulatory groundwork for offering strong incentives tied to storage resource development. However, a mountain of work still remains to be done to realize the full potential of energy storage throughout the country. Here’s where America’s key energy stakeholders should begin.

Take steps to resolve uncertainty.

Heed industry advice and don’t be afraid to ask for interpretive guidance or a declaratory order from FERC stating how the commission will apply its regulations to a certain set of facts. These options typically require both time and filing fees, but they could help settle important questions. Further, some state regulators also offer a procedural option of requesting declaratory relief or an advisory opinion on regulatory matters. For example, Tesla obtained an advisory ruling from the Massachusetts Department of Public Utilities in September 2017 that said certain small-scale batteries paired with solar generating facilities are eligible for net metering. The ruling was issued less than four months after Tesla filed a petition that prompted Massachusetts to open a general docket on eligibility of energy storage for net metering.

A key takeaway from our analysis with Norton Rose Fulbright: this could mean including a mechanism to revisit pricing in the event of a change in law. Alternatively, the parties could be required to enter into good-faith negotiations to restore the benefit of each party’s bargain after a change in law.

It is also important for storage stakeholders to understand that an investment tax credit (ITC) can be claimed on the cost of a storage facility — with regulators taking stock of how the mix of electricity stored changes over the first five years when the credit is exposed to full or partial recapture. In fact, the IRS requires no more than 25 percent of the energy stored to come from other sources than the solar or wind facility tied to the energy storage asset, and then the percentage of other energy storage determines the amount of investment tax credit that can be claimed. For example, if 10 percent of the storage energy is from other sources the first year,then only 90 percent of the full ITC can be claimed. If the percentage of other energy stored increases in any of the next four years, the credit is subject to partial recapture.

The best way for owners to mitigate this type of risk is thorough and accurate modeling of system operation under the full range of operating conditions, and with the system providing all anticipated energy services. To the extent the offtaker has a right to control charging, the asset owner may want to build in a right to recover any ITC-related recapture or losses. A complete picture is needed for owners, utilities and regulators to estimate the fraction of charging energy supplied by a linked, or nearby, solar or wind project — depending on each case.Understanding Performance Risks — and Preparing for Their Possibility

In practice, manufacturer warranties and other performance guarantees and even insurance policies can help. They currently exist for rooftop solar, for example. They need to be developed for storage as well. Developers should make sure that adding storage to other forms of generation will not invalidate any performance guarantees attached to the generating facility.

Developers usually buy batteries directly from the manufacturer and focus primarily on system integration. If the developer does not have a comprehensive understanding of battery capabilities and limitations, such as maximum charge and discharge rates, thermal requirements and cycle life, there is a strong possibility that the control room will mismanage the battery, and the overall system will be unable to satisfy power purchase agreement performance expectations, with the potential for adverse financial impacts or litigation. Ultimately, performance risk should be considered both in terms of initial system performance risk and long-term performance risk.

It’s crucial for energy storage owners to come up with an appropriate O&M plan based on a thorough understanding of how the battery will work. In addition to periodic battery replacement, that plan includes having spare power conditioning equipment (inverters, voltage converters) and service technicians available to address unplanned outages or degraded capabilities. Most energy storage systems have continuous monitoring, and, to an increasing degree, developers are providing this service in-house. This enables faster detection and resolution of system performance. Independent engineers evaluating system design usually also evaluate the O&M plan.

Getting Utilities Up to Speed

Relatively few utilities have significant experience with energy storage. Consequently, developers proposing novel storage projects to utilities should expect that the interconnection process will take time. In addition, if a proposed project provides any service that may require on-peak charging, the utility might need costly network upgrades that would otherwise not be necessary. As more utilities gain experience with storage, the duration of the interconnection agreement process will decline.

Until then, developers can minimize delays by:

֍ Ensuring that their interconnection applications are clear and complete;

֍ Responding rapidly to utility information requests;

֍ Maintaining frequent communication with utility personnel.

The cost of interconnection network upgrades may be reduced by avoiding services that will require on-peak charging, but the value of such services may exceed the incremental cost of the network upgrades. To get in front of this, developers can help identify the least expensive interconnection location by asking the utility to do an interconnection feasibility assessment early in the process. In general, it’s advisable for all stakeholders to get ahead of procedural, logistical and connectivity issues tied to storage.

Embracing an EnergyStorage Future

The lack of clarity about regulatory treatment at the federal level is the biggest challenge ahead for government, utility and industry players exploring energy storage futures. The importance for all parties involved to understand regulatory implications of incorporating energy storage into the mix is increasingly vital as retail sales-generating projects that combine energy storage with renewable power generation enter the market.

Further, stakeholders will need to navigate around existing U.S. law that does not explicitly clarify whether energy storage units qualify for regulatory exemptions typically claimed by small-scale renewable energy generators, or how adding storage to a small power plant affects the generator’s own regulatory exemptions. Storage owners will need to understand where regulatory and utility boundaries are — and how operations fit into them.